Constructing tunable nanopores and their application in drug delivery.

Inspired by biological cell membranes, various "smart" and efficient gating nanoporous devices have been proposed to imitate and to understand life processes. Nanodevices under development with enhanced gating efficiency could play pivotal roles in biosensing and drug delivery. In this Perspective, we highlight an important development by Willner and colleagues that is detailed in this issue of ACS Nano. They designed a new "smart" nanodevice with both "sense" and "release" functionalities for drug delivery based on a nanoporous material, mesoporous silica nanoparticles. We outline recent progress in designing intelligently gated nanoporous devices in material science and nanotechnology. We also summarize new strategies designed for drug delivery based on mesoporous materials. With continuing efforts, we expect more powerful nanodevices to be developed and used in clinical and other real-word applications.